I think the design on your flatware looks vaguely Egyptian.
There was a special spoon at my grandparents' house that I always used. It was a souvenir from Jacksonville or somewhere in the south and the handle was shaped like an alligator. (can't find a photo online) Later I found out there are lots of souvenir spoons with handles shaped like things: fish, Indians in feathered headgear, cartoon characters, the Golden Gate Bridge. I have a collection.
Oh, this is very familiar ground. We had a Special Knife, from a dwindling set of cheap steak knives with fake-ivory/bone plastic handles, acquired by a grandparent decades earlier from the Shell gas station. My sister and I used to bicker over who got to use the best of the survivors, which was easily identified by the large divot in its handle (possibly a souvenir of a brief encounter with an electric stove burner). It felt perfect for gripping, but more importantly, it was the best because there was only one, and there were two of us.
Anyway, she has the Shell Knife now, and I’ve made my peace with that.
Great (and relatable) story! My "special" item was my Weird Harold Jello pudding bowl that my mom probably got in a mail in offer. I still remember trying to convince my mom that it was a "World Herald" bowl since our newspaper in Omaha is the Omaha World Herald.
I also remember trying to tell my dad that the "billons sold" at the local McDonalds was for that specific restaurant not ALL McDonalds collectively...
You have an entire rabbit hole you could go down when it comes to numbers!
I’ve always viewed even numbers as stable, sane, trustworthy. Odd numbers? Pure chaos.
I remember having a knife in our set growing up that someone had dropped on concrete during a cookout that had a little burr in it. On the handle on the opposite side of the sharp side. I always made sure my brother got that one. Sibling rivalry or something like that. He can use the ‘damaged knife’. I don’t think he ever noticed it but my mom did. ‘Don’t use that knife, it’s broken’. But she would never throw it out because then we wouldn’t have a full set and that seemed to bother her more.
If one of us set the table, we'd nearly always give that plate to ourselves, but there were exceptions if we were feeling especially generous that day or if it's was a special event, such as someone's birthday. To this day, when I eat dinner at my parents' house, I make it known if I end up with the "bird with the wings out" plate.
What a great story! It reminds me of a unique piece of silverware that is special in our family. When my kids were still kids (they're both in their 20's now) we took a trip to celebrate North America (Canada Day in Vancouver, July 4 in Seattle). While in Seattle we found a great little Greek restaurant. Later in the day, my wife found a fork in her purse that must have fallen in while we were eating. Now, ten years later, my kids still get excited when one of them gets the "stolen" fork if they are eating at our house with us.
One of the first things I explained to my kids when teaching them how to set the table was that knives always face into the plate. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense- table knives used to be actually sharp, and it would be too easy to cut yourself while reachng for the soup spoon placed next to it. The plate edge acts as a sort of sheath. The other handy bit- flatware is always used from the outside moving in towards the plate- thus eliminating any mysteries of "which fork to use".
I loved that story! I have all kinds of preferences for our utensils, which drives my husband bananas - to him, a fork is a fork is a fork. I love your secret signal program!
I think of even numbers as benign and odd numbers as kind of full of themselves.
Odd numbers being better than even numbers is one of those self-evident things that just Make Sense in my brain. And prime numbers (all but one of which are, by definition, odd numbers) are the best of all.
As I was reading, I assumed the black mark would have been a bad thing and you gave it to whoever you were upset with, not the other way around. At least that would have been me as a child.
And I literally laughed out loud at the thought of a child pointing knives at the dinner table as a sign of passive aggressiveness.
I think the design on your flatware looks vaguely Egyptian.
There was a special spoon at my grandparents' house that I always used. It was a souvenir from Jacksonville or somewhere in the south and the handle was shaped like an alligator. (can't find a photo online) Later I found out there are lots of souvenir spoons with handles shaped like things: fish, Indians in feathered headgear, cartoon characters, the Golden Gate Bridge. I have a collection.
I much prefer odd numbers.
Oh, this is very familiar ground. We had a Special Knife, from a dwindling set of cheap steak knives with fake-ivory/bone plastic handles, acquired by a grandparent decades earlier from the Shell gas station. My sister and I used to bicker over who got to use the best of the survivors, which was easily identified by the large divot in its handle (possibly a souvenir of a brief encounter with an electric stove burner). It felt perfect for gripping, but more importantly, it was the best because there was only one, and there were two of us.
Anyway, she has the Shell Knife now, and I’ve made my peace with that.
Great (and relatable) story! My "special" item was my Weird Harold Jello pudding bowl that my mom probably got in a mail in offer. I still remember trying to convince my mom that it was a "World Herald" bowl since our newspaper in Omaha is the Omaha World Herald.
I also remember trying to tell my dad that the "billons sold" at the local McDonalds was for that specific restaurant not ALL McDonalds collectively...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267090093781?_skw=fat+albert+jello&itmmeta=01K10WP4QHZ5XGKMS5MQHSPV6Y&hash=item3e2fcf66d5:g:PcMAAOSwdPdnVHWA&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cpRCNkfhBRfwcWnDpr1GdJDO4CwNa1jy695E7WuD3HTtbea6YAmUlRXtl9nzfku3aKpl6fR4U2Q6hqkgBSdTBW8qurtPXj%2FBH37GT3UcqpCXiYYNQc3Y29sAePQeYEsL8KZtF%2Fi3taNj43Qqi0--tPeJiVEgY9HwibgLgV1bcbOnkoOlD7%2B8BfaXTwe1g8bQLWZRvr7OOPYeFYu%2Fxp9YmXIuweMom0Xyu28Pj1GE6nzVA8p3vljHBevDjAvoW1czeBk3bmZB81DOtXjbuRMCEFNhOdZ2A2Y50U2bdee10MgQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_bL2JyIZg
You have an entire rabbit hole you could go down when it comes to numbers!
I’ve always viewed even numbers as stable, sane, trustworthy. Odd numbers? Pure chaos.
I remember having a knife in our set growing up that someone had dropped on concrete during a cookout that had a little burr in it. On the handle on the opposite side of the sharp side. I always made sure my brother got that one. Sibling rivalry or something like that. He can use the ‘damaged knife’. I don’t think he ever noticed it but my mom did. ‘Don’t use that knife, it’s broken’. But she would never throw it out because then we wouldn’t have a full set and that seemed to bother her more.
My brother and I did something similar as kids, although it wasn't so subtle. The dinner plates we used had herons on them, with each plate having 1 of 3 or 4 different poses. https://64.media.tumblr.com/fdbdc96e7c6a0c215baa662a85931964/tumblr_oilb8bd2EN1w14bq0o1_1280.jpg
While the full set had probably 10 plates, only 1 was the "bird with the wings out," so that became the special plate. https://64.media.tumblr.com/4642d6f39455a21d74a8a7f99255c7a2/tumblr_oilbb4Avow1w14bq0o1_1280.jpg
If one of us set the table, we'd nearly always give that plate to ourselves, but there were exceptions if we were feeling especially generous that day or if it's was a special event, such as someone's birthday. To this day, when I eat dinner at my parents' house, I make it known if I end up with the "bird with the wings out" plate.
What a great story! It reminds me of a unique piece of silverware that is special in our family. When my kids were still kids (they're both in their 20's now) we took a trip to celebrate North America (Canada Day in Vancouver, July 4 in Seattle). While in Seattle we found a great little Greek restaurant. Later in the day, my wife found a fork in her purse that must have fallen in while we were eating. Now, ten years later, my kids still get excited when one of them gets the "stolen" fork if they are eating at our house with us.
One of the first things I explained to my kids when teaching them how to set the table was that knives always face into the plate. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense- table knives used to be actually sharp, and it would be too easy to cut yourself while reachng for the soup spoon placed next to it. The plate edge acts as a sort of sheath. The other handy bit- flatware is always used from the outside moving in towards the plate- thus eliminating any mysteries of "which fork to use".
I loved that story! I have all kinds of preferences for our utensils, which drives my husband bananas - to him, a fork is a fork is a fork. I love your secret signal program!
I think of even numbers as benign and odd numbers as kind of full of themselves.
Love these stories, and also was a nice surprise to see you quoted in the NYT morning on Trump and names
I hesitate to ask, but how/why are odd numbers superior to even numbers exactly?
Odd numbers being better than even numbers is one of those self-evident things that just Make Sense in my brain. And prime numbers (all but one of which are, by definition, odd numbers) are the best of all.
YMMV, etc.
I always enjoy your Little Stories, Paul. Thank you for sharing!
As I was reading, I assumed the black mark would have been a bad thing and you gave it to whoever you were upset with, not the other way around. At least that would have been me as a child.
And I literally laughed out loud at the thought of a child pointing knives at the dinner table as a sign of passive aggressiveness.